Egypt's armed forces claim to have killed ISIL's leader in the central Sinai. Nasser Abo Zaqoul is an ISIL commander believed to have been leading operations in the region. The Egyptian army launched a major offensive to secure the Sinai in February. Adel EL Mahrouky has more on this latest victory.

As it posted the picture of Nasser Abo Zaqoul to confirm its achievement, the Egyptian military says he was an extremely dangerous terrorist.

Zaqoul was taking shelter in a mountainous area in the middle of the Sinai's desert. He engaged in a cross fire before army fighters managed to kill him. They two grenades, machine guns and many bullets were in his possession.

MOSTAFA HAMZA HEAD, CAIRO CENTER FOR ISLAMIC POLITICAL STUDIES "According to the information we have, Nasser Abo Zaqoul was a shepherd in North Sinai. He joined Al Qaeda in 2002, through a group called Tawheed and Jihad, a group responsible for the Sharm EL Sheikh and Dahab tourist attacks in 2004 to 2006. It is said that he sheltered the leaders of many former leaders of such groups at his house. He then joined Ansar Beit Al Maqdis that turned into the Sinai province a group that sworn allegiance to ISIL."

Nasser Abo Zaqoul was the central Sinai leader of a group called the Sinai province, ISIL's branch in Egypt. Experts say this latest successful mission is a strong hit to the group.

MOSTAFA HAMZA HEAD, CAIRO CENTER FOR ISLAMIC POLITICAL STUDIES "Eliminating the leaders of the group will have a huge impact. The most concerns such groups have is to expose their secret information. The location of its leaders is the most secret information in their management. By reaching the location of Abo Zaqoul, it's one of the greatest army achievements since Operation Sinai 2018 began last February. ISIL has not confirmed his death, and it may never do, because it'll shake its followers and will retreat its operations."

The Sinai province has five main groups in Northern Sinai. Each is responsible for the operations in a specific region. Abo Zaqoul may have been managing the entire group's operation following the death of its leader in 2017 by the Egyptian army.

ISIL always have five replacements to the leader of each of its groups. So there are still more important names the army is chasing.

ADEL EL MAHROUKY CAIRO "The death of Nasser Abo Zaqoul may be the first name in ISIL's obituary. But there are still more names to come. And Experts believe that after what the Egyptian Army says it has achieved in the Sinai, finding the rest of the group's leaders shouldn't take much longer. AMA CGTN Cairo."